Down The Stretch They Come....Concerned??

Maybe you haven't noticed but Chicago is going to have at least one representative in postseason play this year. Besides the expectations that the Cubs season officially begins in October and the White Sox may get in along with how "close" the Bears are as the Bulls....ah never mind.

The Chicago Blackhawks (barring a total collapse) are headed to their first NHL postseason since the 2001-2002 season when an Eric Daze and Alex Zhamnov were committed to the indian. The Blackhawks are currently slotted in the 4th seed in the West behind Detroit, San Jose and Calgary and "FIGHTING" to keep home ice advantage for the first round of playoff play.

That's right....I used the word "FIGHTING." After going through a stretch of 13 out of 17 games on the road where the young Hawks came out of it winning 10 of those games, the Hawks have struggled lately at the place they call home going 3-3 in their last 6 home games including losing 3 of their last 4 overall. The Hawks have been "FIGHTING" with the injury bug lately as well with players like Patick Sharp and Nikolai Khabibulin going down with injuries keeping each of them out of the lineup for some time now.


Now with the struggles at home as of late, the injuries have taken their toll with this Hawks team and it has to make one wonder......is it time for Blackhawks fans to worry about that 4th seed in the west? I think so.

The Hawks have 16 games remaining on their schedule with 10 of those at the UC. That's a good thing to have the fight come to your backyard but here are a couple of problems that the Hawks may face in their sprint to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

#1 - Games Against The Central
The one blemish on the Hawks record this season is their record against their own division (4-7-5). It's the only division in the west that they have a losing record against and like any other sport....down the stretch of the season, who do you play? YOUR DIVISION!! The Hawks have 8 games (4 Home 4 road) left against the Central including 2 against the hated Red Wings who the Hawks haven't beaten yet this season.

#2 - Those Damn Canucks/Blue Jackets

These are the two teams right behind the Hawks for that all important 4th seed in the West and home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Those damn Canucks are only 4 points (2 wins) behind the Hawks with the Blue Jackets only 5 points behind (2 wins and an overtime loss) as well. The Hawks have 1 game remaining against Vancouver and 3 games remaining against Columbus. The Canucks have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL since the end of January with a record of 13-3-1 and have one of the hottest goaltenders (Roberto Luongo) in the NHL. With the mid season acquisition of Mats Sundin and if Luongo stays as hot as he has been the last month and a half....The Canucks could indeed leap frog the Hawks.

The only concern about the Blue Jackets for Hawks fans, besides being in their same division, should be that they have 3 more games against them. The Hawks do have a winning record against Columbus so far this season (2-1) but if Columbus finds a way to pull out games like they did last night at the UC they could be a problem being only 5 points back.

#3 - Youth And Inexperience

This is probably the biggest test for the Hawks down the stretch. Let's face it...this is a young hockey team playing on the west side of town. In fact they're the youngest in the NHL. Both of their superstars (Toews/Kane) aren't even old enough to have a sip of a cocktail legally yet. 6 of the 21 players on this roster have playoff experience and only 2 players (excluding Sam Phalsson) have won the Stanley Cup (Khabibulin{Tampa Bay}/Ladd{Carolina}). The youth and inexperience of this team could be a big factor in how this team performs down the stretch. Most of these players have never felt the pressure of a must win/pressure situation before and it'll be interesting to see how they come through. There are some things that should help them deal with that pressure however. One being you have a head coach who has plenty of playoff experience with multiple organizations, and another being you have a goal tender that has won a cup which is experience that you'll definately need for the stretch run.

I'm not saying the Hawks are gonna totally fall apart for the remaining 16 games and they'll miss the playoffs. However, it seems to me that most Hawks fans and the media just figure this team is going to the playoffs anyway and don't need to worry about the remainder of the season. What does seeding matter anyway?? Huh?

If the Hawks don't get that 4th seed and the home ice advantage that goes with it.....they'll do NOTHING in the playoffs. Fans and media will then lump this team in with the likes of the team on the north side. Great regular season but can't get it done in the playoffs.

Blackhawks fans be forewarned....there could be a disappointing end to this magical season. Don't just be happy with playoff hockey. Get greedy and let's get that 4th seed locked up and do some damage chasing down Lord Stanley's Cup!


-RoCk
Committed To The Indian Since 1981

If He Only Had A Brain....

Why should we feel sorry for Dan Leone?

OH....you don't know who Dan Leone is?? He's the {now former} Philadelphia Eagles employee who was recently fired for posting a negative comment about his employer on his Facebook page. Apparently Mr. Leone (who I'll now refer to as dumb ass) posted his status as the following after Brian Dawkins was no longer an Eagle:

“Dan is f***ing devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver…Dam Eagles R Retarted.”

Who knew that when a free agent signs with another team that it could lead to such harsh feelings. Brian Dawkins (who was considered the heart and soul of the Philadelphia Eagles defense) signed a 5 year deal worth 17 million dollars with the Denver Broncos. News of the signing shocked many and infuriated fans of the green and silver so much that even dumb ass has to post his feelings as a status on his personal facebook page.

Haven't we learned anything by now when it comes to these facebook/myspace pages? When you go looking for a job, don't you think the employer may look up your info on google and research you a little bit if they're that inclined? Seriously, dumb ass should have thought that through before letting his heart do the typing.

Go ahead....try it....CLICK HERE to see what pops up when you Google Rock Mamola. You can find out all kinds of crap on me.



Dumb ass should know better to post trash talk about his employer for the whole world to see.

Look at your own work situation. I'm sure there are some feelings you have about your gig that wouldn't necessarily make the suits laugh and giggle. You gonna write a blog about it? How about video tape yourself ranting and raving how your boss is a complete idiot and if he maybe got his/her head out of you know where....maybe we'd get some work done around here!! PUT THAT ON YOUTUBE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!!

Dumb ass apparently didn't get the memo about the cover sheet on his TPS report!!


Now from everything I've read and heard.....the Eagles are the "bad guy" in all of this for firing someone based on something on his personal web page? Wouldn't your employer do the exact same thing if you posted something negative about the company and someone found out about it?

Obviously someone tipped off someone about this posting....DUMBASS LEFT IT UP FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS!!!

So, I'm supposed to feel sorry about a guy with a neurological disorder who runs the gate at Lincoln Financial Field for Eagles home games because he didn't think the post would get him fired? Please.

Dumb ass was a flat out idiot and didn't think straight. When you work for someone, you represent your company even on your own personal facebook/myspace/twitter/skype/etc. Any kind of negative tone you make public is subject to discipline/termination.

Don't tell me I should feel bad for this guy. Dumb ass is gonna get all kinds of pub out of this anyway....he'll be getting his 15 mins out of this and then it'll become an after thought. The fact that we are a forgiving society doesn't mean that everyone gets a second chance. His actions were enough to get him fired, and the Eagles did the right thing. Why should we forgive his stupidity when "big brother" is always watching?


-RoCK

p.s. - One More Thing: IF YOU'RE GONNA GET FIRED OVER WHAT YOU TYPE....PLEASE SPELL RETARDED CORRECTLY!!

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The Digital Age Is Making Me A Chris Bosh Fan...

The age of the internet and social networks couldn't be at a higher peak than right now. Just so we're clear too, a social network are those websites you're company doesn't want you to visit for hours on end while you're working that 9-5. You know what I'm talking about:
Facebook/Myspace/Twitter/Skype/etc.

Basically if you haven't been *poked* *Tweeded* *IM'd* or have some sort of chain letter survey filled out by now....you're really behind the 8-ball.

Social networks Facebook and Myspace are still the top dogs of the scene with over 200 million active users a month. Everyone from 12 year old Billy posting his status as "pirate" and saying the new Jonas Brothers Album is crap while giving you a track-by-track breakdown like a young Cameron Crowe to the 55 year old Frank who's catching up with old high school buddies he hasn't spoken to in years while posting which movies he's seen lately and how many stars he gives them.

This phenomenon that's spread it's infection all over the world faster than the information superhighway has now spilled into professional sports. I can't say that I blame these guys...most professional athletes have 3 things that social networks attract. (1. Youth 2. Money 3. Fame)

The bigger the social network, the more people are attracted to it. It's kinda like the newest video game platform or IPhone. Everyone needs to get it and get involved.

The question I'm having though is since athletes are becoming more and more accessible through social network sites, does that influence how much you follow/enjoy the athletes' performance in his/her sport?

The reason I say this is because Shaq is on Twitter which is basically a real-time updating service. So for instance if I were at a Burger King, I could pop up my Blackberry (yes, that's a phone) and look up my Twitterberry app (app = application/program) and set my status as:
"At Burger King....tummy wanted some whopperage."

So if you sign up to follow me on Twitter and wanna see what your "friends" are up to....it lists every one's last status update. You'll know I'm at Burger King eating a Whopper and you can reply to me what you think about it!!!

In essence it's the biggest waste of time in the world but it's perfect for people who are addicted to their favorite athlete and wanna know everything they're doing and when Now that athletes are involved and purposing going out of the way to promote their twitter/facebook/myspace/youtube page....does that influence how much you follow that athlete.

Ever since I signed up for Chris Bosh's Twitter page, I've found myself looking at Raptors box scores while watching his videos on youtube and calling him "CB4" instead of Chris Bosh. In fact I was messaging him to come to Chicago before the trade deadline and he replied!!!!

Athletes today grew up in the internet age like most 20-30 year olds so the access they allow into their personal lives isn't anything new to them and maybe not as scary. Some athletes are scared to death to allow access to what they do in their personal life to the public claiming they like their privacy just like everyone else. Today's modern athlete is dissimilar.

We possibly are coming up on an age where we need no more sports media to let you know the back story on a game because you can get it on a blog by the actual player himself or by a player's *tweet*. Sportscenter may even go back to doing what it does best....give the damn score and highlights to go with it. Think about it....if you wanna know what's going on with the player....IM him and ask him rather than hoping a weak minded sports media asks him the question you want answered.

I've been hooked on Chris Bosh lately and the reason is Twitter. I think the more and more we get into a wireless age where you can get info and access at the touch of a finger....the more and more we'll follow more than just what we read in our local paper. Everyone will be every one's "friend" and we'll all be a more informed sports fans for it.

-RoCk

The "Classic" That No One Cares About.......

The World Baseball Classic has been dubbed by some as "The True World Series Of Baseball," but in all honesty does the talent on the field really match the hype of the event? It's interesting how the US baseball fan views this differently than the Panama baseball fan. The US fan for the most part doesn't care about the event because it's not the World Series that "American Fan" has grown accustomed to. The "Dominican Fan" however is treating this like the grand spectacle that MLB wants the WBC to be.

I think a big reason why the "American Fan" doesn't get the same chub the "Dominican Fan" does over this is talent on the rosters. For example...let's run off some names:

TEAM USA

"Derek Jeter/Ryan Braun/Jimmy Rollins/David Wright/Roy Oswalt"


TEAM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

"Hanley Ramirez/Jose Reyes/David Ortiz/Alex Rodriguez (ir)/Miguel Tejada"

TEAM JAPAN (DEFENDING CHAMPS...in case you didn't know)


"Dice-K/Ichiro/Fukudome/and a bunch of names I can't pronounce let alone spell."

There are teams from South Africa, Italy and the Netherlands.....and can someone please tell me where Chinese Taipei is?



Originally there were 720 players named to the provisional rosters of the World Baseball Classic and each team had to nail their team down to a 28 man roster from 45 names. If you look at the pool of names that didn't want to participate in the World Baseball Classic for the US.....the list includes:

John Danks (CWS), Brian Fuentes (LAD), Scott Kazmir (TB), Joe Nathan (MIN), Justin Verlander (DET), A.J. Pierzynski (CWS), Derrek Lee (CHC), Evan Longoria (TB), Brian Roberts (BAL), Grady Sizemore (CLE), Vernon Wells (TOR)

With those big names off the roster, you're looking at an outfield of Ryan Braun, Curtis Granderson, and Adam Dunn. Doesn't that just scream GO USA!!!!?? Where's the big boys like Ryan Howard or C.C. Sabathia?? Where's Albert Pujols?? He was the MVP last year right?? How about the young kid from SF Tim Lincecum? Wasn't he a Cy Young Award winner last year??

Seriously, if you look at the pool of 16 teams...only a few stand out. The Dominican team is strong along with Puerto Rico. Japan is the defending champ and strong as well to go along with Venezuela....THAT'S ABOUT IT. I don't see the US team sneaking in the later rounds of "OUR GAME" as Tommy LaSorda calls it.

This whole tournament is just a sham and boring and takes away from the whole essence of spring training. They had to lengthen spring training this year by a week which means anywhere from 5-8 extra games on the schedule for teams this month. We don't need more games in March because there are too many already and the only reason MLB is doing it is cause they wanna promote their game using the whole national pride angle? Hey Bud......this isn't the Olympics!!! The Olympics got rid of baseball in their games.....I don't hear anyone crying about how the US can't showcase their game/national pastime. DO YOU??

The whole thing is a joke. It's pointless and serves no purpose and only holds back MLB teams from getting their players ready for the regular season. Most of the bigger names of "our game" turned down offers to even participate for their national pride. When the players don't wanna play the games....doesn't that send a signal to ya Bud?

People remember when the US beat Russia at Lake Placid. People remember when Michael Phelps dominated the pool. NO ONE REMEMBERS JAPAN WINNING THE INAUGURAL WBC....AND NO ONE WILL REMEMBER THE WINNER OF THIS ONE EITHER!!

I'm not circling the calender on March 21st when the WBC finals begin at Dodger Stadium....get me to opening day!!!

Get rid of this!!! The sooner the better!!

-RoCK

p.s. - Hey Bud...good luck selling out Dolphin Stadium when Italy plays Panama!!

Wiz Got Traded For A Sick C.....WHAT?

As the NHL trade deadline has come and gone, the Hawks did make a move which I got to say sorta shocks me a little bit and is just outright confusing. The Hawks sent James Wisniewski who is not only a fan favorite but a good clubhouse guy and some would say a team leader of some sorts for center Samuel Pahlsson of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

THIS GUY!!!

SOUND THE ALARMS!! SHOOT THE GUNS IN THE AIR!!! CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES...........

COME ON!!!!
The thing that isn't exactly jiving with me right now is the Hawks got rid of a good role player like Wiz and they traded him for a guy who hasn't played a second of NHL hockey IN A MONTH!!!

Pahlsson has been on injured reserve since Jan. 31 with mononucleosis also known as "mono".


Pahlsson (again....hasn't played in a month) was traded to the Hawks because of his face off win %. That's it. This guy doesn't score alot for center, doesn't get a lot of ice time and is a -16!! Wiz however has almost similar stats when it comes to points (goals/assists) but is a +6!!! When Wiz was on the ice....the Hawks scored more than they were scored on.

I understand the Hawks are second worst in the NHL in FO%....but do you sacrifice team chemistry so you can win a few more face offs here and there. Keep in mind....Pahlsson isn't even on the roster yet!! There was a report on Feb. 25th on ocregister.com stating the following:
"Center Samuel Pahlsson, who has missed the past 10 games because of mononucleosis, will remain out indefinitely after a Tuesday medical exam did not detect sufficient improvement for him to return to the ice"

You know as well as I do....even when you recover from mono...it takes some time to get your feet back and get back to normal. Imagine if you're a hockey player and you skate....isn't that a little more difficult.

I don't like this move at all. It seems to me that the Hawks didn't want to go for the kill this year and get one of the bigger names that was out there. I think the Hawks are settled on securing the 4th seed in the West and going at it with the team they have. I just don't like how Tallon is upsetting the chemistry a little here getting rid of Wiz. I'm not saying that the move totally effects their chances in the playoffs....it's just with all the good feeling surrounding the Hawks and the exciting play they've been showcasing......it's sad to see a good team guy who is a fan favorite get traded for a guy who's not playing cause he locked lips with some sick chick.

The run for Stanley's Cup begins now.....Go Hawks!

-RoCk

The "Upsets" Are Just Upsetting

Tournament time is right around the corner where people will leave work early or subscribe to a live stream of their favorite team to pass some dead time at work. Bracketts will be flying around the office along with squares as well, and even the one guy/gal who hasn't watched a second of NCAA hoops will pick the big 3/14 matchup upset and get it right on. But W=when it comes to the NCAA tournament (which btw is coming up extremely soon in case you didn't already know), is it better to have the upset early rather than the "juicy" match up later in the rounds?

So with that in mind, I thought I'd take a look at last years' tourney and look up how the early upsets impacted the later match ups.



Now of course last years' tournament was known as the tourney where all four number one seeds made it to the final four for the first time in tournament history. In the end, the best match ups (according to the selection committee) happened....but what about those early upsets and how did they affect the ratings?

Looking at the bracket....here are your "upsets" by seeding...
EAST
(9) Arkansas over (8) Indiana
WEST
(9)Texas A&M over (8)BYU
(12) Western Kentucky over (5) Drake
(13) San Diego over (4) Connecticut
MIDWEST
(12) Villanova over (5) Clemson
(13) Siena over (4) Vanderbilt
(11) Kansas State over (4) USC
(10) Davidson over (7) Gonzaga
SOUTH
NONE

If you look at the teams (8 of em) that upset the higher seed, 4 of those team played each other (Western Kentucky vs. San Diego/Villanova vs. Siena) and of the other 4 teams....1 advanced (Davidson).

However with 8 "upsets" in the first round plus a second round where you had two 12/13 matchups for a birth in the sweet sixteen of the NCAA tournament....the ratings were down 9% from the year before (4.8 rating/11 share in 2008/5.3 rating/12 share in 2007). Do people really enjoy watching the upset team from Kansas State beat up on the heart of a major market in USC? I thought people loved watching the upset, but then again after the upset.....for the most part....that team doesn't do anything of significance in their remainder of a tour in the tourney.

Is it really worth it to see the one "upset" on a weekend and then don't get the "juicy" match up in the end? Looking at the bracket...wouldn't you rather see Connecticut get past that first round game, face an upstart in Drake and maybe take on UCLA. Don't you wanna see that big school type of match up with the big names of the sport playing the game for a chance at the title?

I'd rather see the big match ups instead of the upset. Upsets supposedly make the tournament better in some people's eyes, but it's more of a distraction if you ask me. The upset distracts people from what really matters in the tournament....how the better teams perform. Villanova beat Clemson by 6 points as Siena romped Vandy by 21...they play each other as a 12-13 match up which the ratings were absolute garbage...Nova wins and then promptly gets destroyed by Kansas in the sweet sixteen. Does that make the tournament more watchable when a 12 seed makes the sweet sixteen? Clemson or Vandy would have both been better match ups for Kansas n the sweet sixteen and possibly would have brought a little more attention/ratings to the game itself. The thing about Vandy playing Kansas however is it's like Kansas got a round off by playing that game on their way to the national title. I like the better match up rather than the notion that the impossible can happen.

I'm not saying fix the tournament and condense it down to 32 teams....it's just when you're filling out your bracket in the coming weeks, if you like the upset..pick em to lose the next week. It's just not worth one game where the "impossible" happens to me. The upsets are nice, but it doesn't make the tournament any better in my eyes. Give me the big match ups with the big names and big programs.

This years NCAA tournament after it's all said and done may be the worst tournament in history because of the parody in NCAA hoops. There is no dominant team/player and therefore there could be alot of "upsets" that first weekend. Is it enough to make you tune in and see if the sleeper can pull it off again? Odds are it won't happen so why believe?

I wanna see Oklahoma take on Michigan State. I wanna see North Carolina take on UCLA. I wanna see the bigger programs/players/coaches go head to head rather than Connecticut take on upset bound Rhode Island.

For me, this could be one of the first years in a while where the NCAA tournament just doesn't attract me as a viewer. The upset may be enough to keep the average fan, but it's not enough to make my tournament experience better.

-RoCk